(NewsNation) — When Dr. Matthew Szydagis first saw new footage of a purported UAP in Iraq, it reminded him of a pop culture icon: a Star Wars droid.
“It is not a standard or common shape of UAP,” Szydagis said Tuesday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”
The professor of physics at the University of Albany has authored a prodigious number of scientific publications on the topic, including one published in December.
The new video, released by journalist Jeremy Corbell, shows something that resembles a jellyfish flying in the sky, its tentacles dangling in the air. NewsNation has not independently verified the footage.
The video was apparently taken at a U.S. joint operations base in Iraq, and according to Corbell, the object is officially designated a UAP — unknown aerial phenomenon — by the Pentagon. The footage was taken with thermographic/forward-looking infrared radar.
The object’s color changes quickly throughout the video, indicating a temperature change. That’s notable, Szydagis said, because it’s not possible for any known objects to change temperature that fast.
“That implies either a camera artifact, that it’s not really changing temperature that quickly, or it implies some sort of signature management, which would then beg the question if you have that ability, why wouldn’t you just stay invisible?” Szydagis said. “It asks a lot of questions without very many answers right now.”
A “camera artifact” could be something like a smudge on the lens. Several replies to Corbell’s post on X suggest this may be the case here, but Szydagis said that’s unlikely for multiple reasons.
“That was one of my initial thoughts, but when you look at the video carefully, you can actually see that the object changes in size with the zoom,” he said. “You also see the camera reticle, sort of the central four marks on the camera, will be changing position relative to the object.”
The object moved through a sensitive military installation before moving over water, where it began what Corbell describes as a controlled descent before submerging.
After 17 minutes, the UAP reemerged from the water and disappeared at a high rate of speed.
The video released by Corbell did not include that.
According to those familiar with the full footage or who witnessed the event, the UAP was not observable with night vision, appeared to jam the targeting capability of the optical platform and displayed positive lift without the usual means for lift and thrust, with no signatures for propulsion maneuvers present.
Szydagis said more context about the event and other footage from different angles might be able to shed more light on the object, including its size and velocity.
“My initial feeling was smudge on the lens. That doesn’t seem to be borne out when looking at the entire video, but nevertheless, there’s not enough context to make a conclusion, so by definition it’s unknown,” he said. “That doesn’t doesn’t mean it is something unnatural or remarkable, but right now there isn’t enough data or more of the backstory and context.”
NewsNation digital producer Stephanie Whiteside contributed to this report.